Regions
Banff Yoho Kootenay.
Warm temperatures forecast for this week should be pause for thought after such a long spell of low danger. Areas such as south facing gullies should be avoided this week, as slush and rockfall can be expected. Valley bottoms may become isothermal.
Weather Forecast
Looks like a warm week ahead as a warm, westerly flow runs across the region. Tuesday looks like a mostly sunny day with freezing levels reaching 2000m and alpine winds remaining strong from the west. Looks like some precipitation coming for Thursday (up to 10 cm).
Snowpack Summary
Despite the warm temperatures, strong winds above treeline today kept the snow surface cool in all but the most sheltered areas. The snowpack remains solid, with the exception of isolated steep, south facing slopes below 1900m where solar triggered wet avalanches can be expected in the afternoon. The facets near the ground remain dormant.
Avalanche Summary
No new avalanches reported or observed today.
Confidence
Timing or intensity of solar radiation is uncertain
Problems
Loose Wet
Loose Wet avalanches are the release of wet unconsolidated snow or slush. These avalanches typically occur within layers of wet snow near the surface of the snowpack, but they may quickly gouge into lower snowpack layers. Like Loose Dry Avalanches, they start at a point and entrain snow as they move downhill, forming a fan-shaped avalanche. Other names for loose-wet avalanches include point-release avalanches or sluffs. Loose Wet avalanches can trigger slab avalanches that break into deeper snow layers.
Deep Persistent Slabs
Deep Persistent Slab avalanches are the release of a thick cohesive layer of hard snow (a slab), when the bond breaks between the slab and an underlying persistent weak layer deep in the snowpack. The most common persistent weak layers involved in deep, persistent slabs are depth hoar or facets surrounding a deeply buried crust. Deep Persistent Slabs are typically hard to trigger, are very destructive and dangerous due to the large mass of snow involved, and can persist for months once developed. They are often triggered from areas where the snow is shallow and weak, and are particularly difficult to forecast for and manage.